


Troubles with Identities

by rosebud1000



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Alya ships it, F/M, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23223490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosebud1000/pseuds/rosebud1000
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir will never fall in love. Marinette is helpless over Adrien. Lila just has to stick her nose in their business. With a little bit of help from their friends (and kwamis), the two may just find a way to settle the lovesquare once and for all.Based off Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, because I am bored. (Although you can understand what's going on without knowing the play)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Act 1, Scene 1

**Author's Note:**

> For my purposes, Chat Noir hasn't admitted to himself that he likes Ladybug yet. Everything else is the same. Also, to avoid confusion, regardless of the perspective, Marinette will always be called Ladybug when she's transformed.  
> Courtesy of Shakespeare, chapter lengths are going to be weird, as I'm trying to do one scene per chapter. You have been warned.

* * *

Ladybug held out her fist, grinning at Chat Noir. “Bien joué!”

She threw her lucky charm into the air, and Chat Noir helped the akuma victim to her feet. The Eiffel Tower was set back onto its feet, cars returned to their parking spaces. The young woman who had caused all of this looked confused, but her friends ran over and took her from Chat, explaining what had happened.

“Can I expect to see you again soon, m’lady?” asked Chat Noir, returning to Ladybug’s side.

Ladybug rolled her eyes, used to his meaningless flirting. “We’re superheroes, Chat. Why even bother with the invitations?”

“You’re right, I shouldn’t. After all, I’ll never fall in love.”

“That’s a bit of good luck to girls,” Ladybug laughed. Her earring beeped, and she waved to him and the horde of reporters. “Bug out!”

* * *

Marinette was bent over her sketchbook, grasping desperately for ideas. This year’s terminale class was putting on a _bal masqué_ for the whole school. Marinette thought it was a project for English, but she couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that everyone was freaking out over it, and she’d been asked to make masks for many of her friends. So far, she’d designed most of them, but was at a loss for Juleka.

In an attempt to find inspiration, she’d settled herself outside, despite the early-March cold. But even the view of the Seine wasn’t helping her. She knew Juleka loved the river-- she lived in a boat on it, after all, but would Juleka want to _be_ the river for the dance?

“Worried about something, princess?”

Marinette screamed, her pencil falling from her hand.

“Sorry, Marinette.” Chat Noir dropped onto her balcony, “I thought you’d seen me.”

“Apparently not,” she grumbled, placing her pencil on the page.

“Watcha working on?”

“Designs for my friends.”

“Can I see?”

“Why not.” She passed him her sketchbook. “Actually, there’s a few I need to choose between two ideas for, I’d like to hear what you think.”

“Marinette… these are beautiful,” he said, flipping through the pages. His eyes landed on one, which clearly had much more detail than any of the others. “Who’s this one for?”

“Oh, um,” Marinette said, blushing. “There’s this guy I like, and I thought maybe- I mean, he didn’t ask me to, but-”

“You like someone?”

“Well-”

Chat Noir shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t understand that. All this drama over who everyone likes? I’d like to stay out of it, at least as Chat Noir.”

“Really?” Marinette teased. “You don’t even like Ladybug?”

“Marinette!” he gasped. “Such betrayal! The reporters can say what they want, but no. I do not like Ladybug.”

“Not even a little?” Marinette couldn’t help but ask.

“She’s my friend. I trust her with my life. And I suppose I love her in a way, but not the way that you mean.” Chat Noir handed her back her sketchbook. “I have to go now, but I’ll see you later, princess.”

Marinette waved as he leapt away, pencil in her hand. A cold wind was picking up, blowing her hair into her face and cooling her ears. It looked like it was going to rain soon, so she grabbed her stuff and headed back inside.

“Marinette, you should make Adrien that mask!” Tikki said, fluttering by her ear.

“He probably already has one. And how could I give him the mask? I always mess up whenever I try to give him things.”

“That’s not true! Remember when you gave him the homework he missed? You got it to him when you were supposed to, and remembered to write a note and sign your name!”

Marinette sighed. “I need to prioritize the masks for people who asked me, though. I’ll make Adrien’s if I have enough time left.”

Her phone rang, and she answered Alya’s call, putting her on speaker so she could still work.

“Are you going to ask Adrien to the dance or what?” Alya said, skipping even a “hello.”

“I can’t do that!”

“But I know you designed a mask for him! So give it to him and ask him to go with you!”

“Alya, the dance is too soon. I still have to finish designing and making masks for everyone who asked me, I can’t worry about a date with Adrien, too!”

“What if instead of asking him _to_ the dance, you ask him out _at_ the dance? Maybe ask him to dance with you, then ask him on a real date for later in the week.”

“I don’t know…”

“I’ll help! I can totally be your wingwoman for this! I’ll even ask him out for you if you get too nervous.”

“Wouldn’t that be a little weird?”

“C’mon, he’d understand. Besides, it’s the date that counts, not the asking-out.”

Marinette gave her a non-committal hum, then held up her sketches. “I have two designs for you and I need you to choose. This one goes better with Nino’s, but the other one has more glitter.”

“Ooh, those are so pretty! I don’t know which one I like better, what color are they gonna be?”

Marinette happily explained all the differences to her, and even after Alya made her decision and hung up, stayed up well into the night working. She’d be tired the next morning, and definitely sleep through her alarm, but it’d be worth it for her friends’ masks.


	2. Act 1, Scene 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino and Alya ship Adrinette.

* * *

“Seriously?” Nino groaned. “You couldn’t convince her to ask him out?”

“Unfortunately, no,” said Alya. “But I did get her to agree to ask him on a date while we’re at the dance.”

“Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

“Nino, Alya,” Mlle Bustier shushed them. 

Adrien wasn’t here this morning because of a photoshoot, and Marinette was late because she was Marinette, so Nino and Alya had devoted the morning lesson to planning. Mlle Bustier didn’t appreciate it. But, really, what else were they supposed to do? They were trying to set their friends up, which easily trumped reviewing English vocab for the 27th time.

“But Marinette’s designs for the masks look great! Someday, we’re going to get to say we wore Dupain-Cheng original  _ loups _ for a school dance.”

“Alya!” Mlle Bustier gave her a look.

Behind them, Lila Rossi leaned forward. Marinette meant to ask Adrien out? The girl was clumsy, rash, and emotional. It was likely she’d ruin it for herself, but Lila was more than willing to help along her inevitable downfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, I'm halfway through chapter 4 and it's gonna be a long way. (and yes, this chapter is unbelievably short. thanks, shakespeare!) I may end up splitting it and abandoning one scene per chapter. Also, I changed the title because I didn't like the first one.


	3. Act 1, Scene 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila has a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to update this sooner... and forgot.  
> but with the coronavirus and everything, at least I'll have more time to write. And now I know 94% of the plot of this thing so that's good.

Lila smiled sweetly at the camera. “I’m here to talk to Monsieur Agreste, if that’s alright.”

“Of course, come in,” Nathalie’s voice crackled across the intercom. The gates swung open, and she approached the mansion. She’d already made sure Adrien wouldn’t be here for her visit, and she knew Gabriel would drop everything if she had valuable information on him.

“What do you know?” he asked, standing at the top of the stairs. It was such a pitiful attempt to look imposing that Lila almost laughed. He may have been intelligent, but he placed too much stock in looking powerful. Often, Lila found, the less powerful you appear, the more willing people are to believe you.

“It seems like Marinette’s friends are going to force her to finally ask out your son.”

“Interesting… and what do you think his response will be?”

“He’ll agree,” she told him. She didn’t know this, of course, but she knew to up-play the situation to make him willing to go to greater lengths. Gabriel raised his eyebrows. It was clear he didn’t believe her certainty, but Lila knew he’d still agree to her plan.

“And what do you propose to do about it?”

“Marinette won’t believe me, but Alya will. I’ll devise a lie about Adrien, and have Alya pass it to Marinette, so she’ll stand him up.”

“Why lie about Adrien? Why not Marinette? If you ruin my son, I will-”

Lila cut him off. “I’ll lie about Adrien because Marinette is insecure enough to believe any reason to cancel the date- as long as the information is from her friend. Adrien can be too quick to forgive, I think. But Marinette reacts emotionally, and by the time she realizes it wasn’t real, she’ll have already ruined her relationship with Adrien.”

Gabriel studied her. He seemed to approve of her plan, but still asked, “And what about Alya? How will you get her to believe this?”

Lila thought for a moment. Alya was stupid, but she’d be more likely to truly convince Marinette if she’d seen something, not just heard it. “Can I involve another person?”

“Who?”

“Chloé Bourgeois.”

He nodded once.

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone curious, Ladybug is Beatrice, Chat Noir is Benedick, Marinette is Claudio, Adrien is Hero, Alya is Don Pedro and Antonio, and Nino is Leonato.


End file.
